Improved fabric for insoles



UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

STEPHEN M. ALLEN, OF WOBURN, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPR OVED FABRIC FOR INSOLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,593, dated November 17, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN M. ALLEN, of Woburn, county of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented as a new article of manufacture an inner sole for shoes and boots and the mode of producing the same; and I hereby declare that the followingis a full and true description of the same.

My invention relates to the manufacture of a substitute for leather for shoe-soles intended for inside wear which may be attached to the shoe or boot or may be worn loose on the inside. The new substitute for leather prepared in accordance with my invention overcomes objections generally urged against most articles for this purpose heretofore used, and is otherwise valuable on account of its cheapness, durability,'and imperviousness to water.

Various kinds of soles have heretofore been used manufactured from paper-board, cork, felt, and like substances, but all of which were liable to many objections, among which was that they could not be pegged to the shoe or boot, as the motions of the foot would readily detach and draw them out. To overcome this objection, as well as to make an inner sole that would be as impervious to water as common leather, absorbing enough of the perspiration from the feet to prevent an accumulation of moisture between the feet and the sole, yet sufficiently so to prevent water that shall pass through the outer sole of the boot or shoe from reaching the feet, I make a composition as follows: I select from tanneries or other places where leather is manufactured the scrap-leather and soak the same in water, either warm or cold, as the case may be, or in alkaline or other solutions, to wash out a portion of the tannin remaining in the leather. This may be done in vats or in an ordinary pulp-mill, with orwithout manipulation. I then mix with the same a proper amount of fibrous materialsflax, hemp, or like substances, preferably in their unrotted state-and grind these substances together in an ordinary pulp-mill, as paper is usually ground. After the two substances are well mixed I add a quantity (varying in proportion according to the result sought to be obtained) of raw untanned scrap-hides such as are usually used in the manufacture of glue-and grind this together with the former compound to a perfect pulp, after which the pulp is run off onto an apron attached to a board or paper machine, and is then formed into a sort of leather-paper suitable for the production of insoles. After drying the same I take the sheets thus made and subject them to powerful pressure in a mold fitted for the sole of a shoe or boot and cut or trim the same with a die or otherwise, and thus form a sole in the proper shape to be used. The efl'ect of the pressure is to set the animal and vegetable fibers so firmlytogether that they adhere sufficiently for all ordinary purposes of an inner sole. The tanned leather scraps acted upon by the rawhide scraps and the gluten and albumen in the vegetable substances produce a sole impervious to water, while the porousness of the fiber 'will absorb the moisture of the feet by capillary attraction, the same as leather.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. As a new article of manufacture and substitute for leather used in the manufacture of insoles, the herein-described composition, the same consisting in combining untanned leather scraps with tanned leather scraps when the latter are prepared and mixed with vegetable fibrous matter, substantially in the manner herein set forth.

2. As a new article of manufacture, an inner sole for boots and shoes, formed of the within-described composition, substantially in the manner hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name to this specification before two subscribing witnesses.

STEPHEN M. ALLEN. Witnesses:

LEVI WILKINs, L. BURNETT. 

